mass surveillance

After 40 years, California authorities last week arrested a person they believe to be the “golden state killer,” responsible for at least 12 murders and dozens of rapes.

But the way police were able to catch this suspect is controversial to say the least. They tracked down Joseph DeAngelo through DNA that the suspect's family members' had uploaded onto an online genealogy website. Proponents say its revolutionary, but critics have called it "dystopian.”

Among the items on a busy Congressional agenda this week was a little-noticed vote on reauthorization and possible expansion of the legal authority for one of the biggest NSA surveillance operations ever authorized against U.S. citizens. An outcry from privacy advocates and a bipartisan group in Congress has, at least temporarily, stalled the extension.

(This post was last updated at 11:09 p.m. ET.)

It was a dramatic day on the floor of the United States Senate on Sunday. Unable to overcome parliamentary maneuvers by Sen. Rand Paul, the body adjourned and let three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act expire at midnight.

Trying to beat a midnight deadline during a rare Sunday session, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to fast track a House bill that would overhaul the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records.